Air Bissau (Bissau) is set to be succeeded by yet another national carrier the Guinea Bissau government has announced. Speaking in Lisbon during the signing ceremony of a contract with Portuguese ACMI specialist, euroAtlantic Airways (YU, Lisbon), which will lead to the resumption of flights between Bissau and Lisbon this month, the West African country's Secretary of State for Transport and Communications, João Bernardo Vieira, said several potential partners are being considered for the project. He did not, however, allude to any potential time frames or business plans.

Air Bissau was the national airline of Guinea-Bissau until its demise in 1998, operating domestic as well as regional services using B727-200s, Fokker 27s, An-24s, and An-26s. Since then, the country has relied on external carriers such as TAP Portugal, ASKY Airlines, Senegal Airlines, and Royal Air Maroc for its international connectivity requirements.

In the absence of a de-facto national airline, Guinea Bissau has attempted to allocate its share of bilateral air service rights with Portugal to third party operators such as TACV - Cabo Verde Airlines (Praia) and Ten Airways (Bucharest Baneasa) only to be thwarted by the Portuguese authorities.